Barbara Follett (politician)

Barbara Follett
Official portrait, 2009
Minister for the East of England
In office
28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Preceded byOffice established
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office
22 September 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded bySarah McCarthy-Fry
Succeeded byAndrew Stunell
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture and Tourism
In office
4 October 2008 – 22 September 2009
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byMargaret Hodge
Succeeded byMargaret Hodge
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equality
In office
24 November 2007 – 4 October 2008
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMaria Eagle
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
28 June 2007 – 24 November 2007
Serving with James Plaskitt
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byJames Plaskitt
Succeeded byJames Plaskitt
Member of Parliament
for Stevenage
In office
1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byTim Wood
Succeeded byStephen McPartland
Personal details
Born
Daphne Barbara Hubbard

(1942-12-25) 25 December 1942 (age 81)
Kingston, Colony of Jamaica
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Spouses
(m. 1963⁠–⁠1970)
Gerald Stonestreet
(m. 1970⁠–⁠1974)
Les Broer
(m. 1974⁠–⁠1985)
(m. 1985)
Children3, including Jann Turner
Residence(s)Old Knebworth; Hertfordshire
Alma materSandford School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ellerslie Girls' High School, Sea Point, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
London School of Economics
Open University
Websitehttp://www.barbara-follett.org.uk/

Daphne Barbara Follett (née Hubbard; born 25 December 1942) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stevenage from 1997 to 2010. During this time she held several parliamentary and ministerial positions.

In the decade before entering Parliament she played a major part in transformation of the Labour Party, firstly by making members more aware of their visual impact on voters and secondly by co-founding and running two organisations, Labour Women's Network and Emily's List UK, which spearheaded reforms that helped Labour to return a record 101 women to Parliament in 1997.

Following the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, she repaid more than £42,000 which she had claimed in expenses - which enabled her to top the list of repayments made by MPs. She stood down in 2010 in order to take over running the business of her husband, author Ken Follett.